Aesthetic and protective cosmetic topical agents in the form of an applied cream or lotion are widely used to protect against UV radiation, provide a moisture barrier, mask blemishes and skin discoloration, reduce or prevent irritation, and provide other healthful and aesthetic benefits. In the best of all possible worlds, these protective topical agents would be specified by a team of experts for a particular individual with specific needs, and for a specific environment or use. The topical agent would then be formulated in a timely manner and delivered to the individual. Unfortunately, logistics and cost have to date limited the practicality of providing such a specific, optimized product to a given user.
Currently, there are several approaches to provide cosmetic topical agents that match a particular need. These agents may be compounded based on a specification from a dermatologist. They may be assembled in a retail store from a set of ingredients by a knowledgeable clerk. Systems or sets of cosmetic creams or lotions with a wide variety of properties may be pre-manufactured and chosen based on an given customer's coloration, skin type, and specific needs.
The main barrier to a general solution for the custom manufacture and distribution of these topical agents is that the number of features in the product are many, and the needs are quite varied. It is not commercially feasible to manufacture and stock each formulation with the granularity that is optimum for a given need and individual. What is needed, then, are ways to provide useful compounds based on a determination of an individual's specific needs using, for example, advanced image analysis techniques, and formulations that are optimal for that set of needs.
Techniques to capture the reflectance spectra of a surface with moderate specular reflectance and predominately diffuse reflectance can require measuring the reflected color as RGB triplets, or measuring the reflected spectra of the surface using optical methods to integrate the reflectance with a known light source at a known distance with a detector that has been set to a fixed aperture, fixed integration optics, and measured over a fixed period of time. Devices that use these techniques are reflection spectrophotometers and colorimeters.
Some mobile devices have many of the characteristics of the colorimeter. For instance, they have a light source with known characteristics, a CCD detector, a processor, and a lens system that can be used for integration. The primary barriers to using mobile devices as accurate colorimeters are the need to: (1) control ambient light; (2) set the distance to the surface to be sampled; (3) control the aperture used for measurement of the sample; (4) control the detector sensitivity used for measurement of the sample; (5) control the time used for measuring the sample; (6) control the white balance for measuring the sample; and (7) control the focal plane for measuring the sample.
While cameras used in mobile devices have become the most popular handheld cameras presently in use, they lack the ability to manually set aperture, and the most popular devices do not allow software to set aperture, sensitivity, or exposure times. While the hardware and firmware of the mobile device may report what camera settings are used as data embedded in a resulting digital image file, techniques are often used within the firmware to enhance or improve the image, and adjust the white balance. The firmware that controls the camera has been optimized to produce quality snapshots, not to make reliable measurement of light and color.
What is further needed, then, are systems and methods that address these issues and allow a user to capture accurate, repeatable color samples using a mobile device.